|
Michael Ashley Ball, (born 27 June 1962) is an English actor, singer and broadcaster, who is known for his work in musical theatre. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on star in 1987 as Raoul in ''The Phantom of the Opera''. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK singles chart with "Love Changes Everything", a song taken from the musical ''Aspects of Love'', where he played Alex. He played the role in London and on Broadway. In 1992, Ball represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing second with the song "One Step Out of Time". In 1995, he reprised the role of Marius in ''Les Misérables: The Dream Cast in Concert''. His other West End roles include Georgio in ''Passion'' (1997) and Caractacus Potts in ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' (2002). He has twice won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He won in 2008 for his role as Edna Turnblad in ''Hairspray'', and then in 2013 for the title role in the revival of ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Olivier Awards 2013: Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton are the toast of the West End - Daily Mail Online )〕 Ball was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2015 Birthday Honours for his services to musical theatre.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=2015 Birthday Honours )〕 ==Early life== Ball was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire to a Welsh mother and an English father. His father trained as an Austin apprentice at the Longbridge plant and went on to become a successful businessman, although he had originally wanted to be an actor. Ball's maternal grandfather was a coal miner. His maternal grandmother was protective of the family. Ball has a sister, Katherine, almost a decade his junior. He moved to Dartmoor with his parents when he was three years old. He has never had singing lessons, but as a boy he learned to sing by singing along to music: for example, songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson and Frank Sinatra. When he was 11 years old he went to Plymouth College, an independent boarding school, because his parents thought this would give him a good education, but he did not fit into the academic and sporting environment at the school at that time, and he was unhappy there.〔 Ball was interested in the theatre and his father took him to see shows in the school holidays, including a Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre of ''King Lear'', which impressed him as a youngster of about 14 years old. He joined a youth theatre, which led to his studying drama at Guildford School of Acting, where he found an environment that suited him. As a student he went busking on Saturdays in Guildford town with a female student friend to earn a little extra money. He graduated in 1984. After his graduation, Ball's singing career rapidly got off the ground. His maternal grandmother, having a musical ear, was proud of Ball's early singing achievements; she died suddenly, however, of a heart attack about one week before his debut in ''The Pirates of Penzance''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael Ball (singer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|